^Good advices and pretty complete guide !

i might add :

• The ranger class is pretty good at speedrunning, since it gives you a 10% movespeed on level 2, and 20% on level 4, and also has the possibility to jump over rivers with the bow equipped (and maybe skip the bridge, depending on map generation)
• So yeah .. you can skip the bridge..
• The fastest way to find the 2 points you need to speedrun (The bridge & the Ash sorcerer) are not following the roads, it's actually hugging the sides of the map , you will eventually see the Ash beach, or even better, Fenrir's continent you'r looking for, and you are lucky, it will make you skip some big deviations, because the roads are (almost) never going straight.
• The ash beach sorcerer doesnt always have a shrine or a road connected to it Probably a bug... even saw one without a way to go back up...
• Do the Raider Axe Only takes 4stones lv1, has insane DPS on lv3, that's the best weapon if you don't want to invest time into crafting something else , the elecrtic Nornir Axe's also a good choice (if you have the luxury to kill linorms) At least that's my setup for a day 4 or 5 fenrir kill, currently praying Odin for a day3

My strategy is different but has some elements shared.

I found it really difficult to find the Ash Vendor. Though if I run into it, then of course do skip the Hideout but otherwise, I will go into the hideout on Day 3. In my attempts, finding a bridge skip was more frequent than finding the Ash Vendor.

For the starter kit I use Feral as you do, it is just too good but I go for Seer all the way. The reason is that I found no need for repairing, usually only need to do it once or twice, and having ramps is super easy to do because outside of the Quarry there is no use for wood anyway. While reduced costs could be interesting, getting 7.5k souls for the Hideout skip does not seem too hard, just had to climb up a few Ruins for the Souls potions.

Seer on the other hand gives a stun-root, negates the need for temperature potions which can be tricky if you don't find the flowers and red meat, and generally has a 10% weaken with 30% attack speed buff which helps to DPS really well.

Now, the way I start is running to the Quest Board, potentially slamming a Maple tree, or picking up flint and branches so that I can quickly get some potions and tools. My goal with the quests is to verify where is Ash Beach, Land of Pools, the Glacier Peaks and the Smokey Highland. I aim to take the Hideout Raid or the Highland Pests. If you happen to find the Ash vendor then you can swap anyway to any other quest. This first segment usually takes 30-60s.

My aim is to find the bridge in the first 4-7m. The way I was succeeding is that once I verify the NPCs location, then there is usually one or two directions that are unknown and I just go there following the road, getting the speed boost from that. When running into a Glacier Peaks that is not the one where the NPC is, I immediately recall and head towards the NPC direction, which yields an early sub 4m bridge time. So this segment is usually 4-7m.

If reached the edge for my first pathway, then I try a 2nd time, perhaps a 3rd time until 7-8m, then reset if not found the bridge. Usually, by the time I reach the first pathway end, I can craft a Raider II or III, sometimes even a Quarry. If can, I do before going out to check the 2nd road.

While out, I usually grab a few mushrooms and slam a silver deposit for 2 silver. Quite often you will run into the wolves. If have tools I collect the wood, stone, flint and iron on the way. I don't deviate from the road much, but close-by passageways I do check for barricades. Only clearing the smaller camps at this stage, the idea is to see the bridge before the first night.

Once found the bridge, I verify if it has a skip, if it does then I continue with the run, if it doesn't and I have no resources for a Quarry then I reset. If could not reach the bridge by the first day's night time, then I also reset because that means that it's either in a weird position or behind a temperature zone which would be too far away to just verify.

If everything went good, then the rest is pretty much just clearing camps and reaching the highlands until Jötunn is in a killable range, at that point LV5-LV7 is usually where I stand with having my Tempered, Weaken and Stun up for controlling an area and overheal any damage. This is about a 5-8m segment.

If had luck with Shrines then I kill the Jötunn on Day 2 night, if not then usually do it after clearing the Hideout on Day 3. If the Jötunn is not in the right direction then the extra time with the night is spent to level up more. This is about a 2-3m segment.

In both cases, the best is getting Járnsaxa, as you can just DPS down to half health and Odin smites it, but even if not managed to do it, it has a very low HP anyway.

I usually start the Hideout on Day 3 morning, finish it up around when the Event spawns then killing the Jötunn and clearing the event in quick succession so you can skip to Fenrir for the Night and during Day 4 you should have your clear. This is about a 5-8m segment. The skip and finding the Fenrir's Lair is usually a 2m segment.

If had to construct the Quarry then even with actively looking for Barricades I usually have to defend for the Blood Moon and start the Fenrir on Day 5. Finishing it up before Day 6. This is also the case when I choke on the Hideout and die there a few times. This is another downtime for me when I just level up till LV10. So this is about 8-10m segment.

Now, the most annoying one to me is the Hideout, I often choke on that, and would be absolutely great if finding an Ash vendor would be really quick, but for now, it seems to me that there are a lot of Ash Beaches where it could be so if you don't run into it early then it seems to be faster to clear the Hideout as it usually only takes 5-8m.

For the Fenrir, I usually do the same, just spamming the blades. Usually, chug the found Mana potions, however, sometimes I do run into the Linnorms while going to the bridge so often I do have materials for a Nornir Axe.

And yeah, if I see the ocean I also follow the edge of the island instead of the road. But I do ignore the sections with the Ash Beaches.

"In both cases, the best is getting Járnsaxa, as you can just DPS down to half health and Odin smites it, but even if not managed to do it, it has a very low HP anyway." ^ It is NOT, if Odin smites it half HP, you don't get the souls & fragments... it ended like 10 of my runs And one of them could have been a day 3 kill :(

Also i usually manage to find the bridge + the Ash sorcerer at approx. 11-12 min every runs now, my method of hugging sides is getting pretty consistent, you just have to predict where the road you're seeing will end up using what you can see on your map , and also don't walk into dead-ends

The only big run-killer is having to get through a big desert/snow biome without the seer or potions...

I find myself having too many souls even without the Warden, Seer is the way to go imo the dps increase saves you a lot of time.

Also, bridge skips shouldn't be allowed in official speedruns.

"It is NOT, if Odin smites it half HP, you don't get the souls & fragments..." It's currently bugged, it was working a few patches ago just fine. I'm expecting it to be fixed in one or two patches. For now, the workaround is to wait until Járnsaxa transforms into a tornado and make sure you don't kill it with a rune, like Seiðr Weaver. To fill up the time, you can do the World Event first.

"Also, bridge skips shouldn't be allowed in official speedruns." I don't agree about the bridge skip. There is nothing inherently broken in that, the game has the features to jump over distances and if the terrain is generated in a way that you can jump over that's more of a feature than a bug. It's not like you pull over a Linnorm and manage to glitch it in a way that it shoots you across.

When will all speedrun categories be available? And when will the leaderboard be updated?